HO prevention and the combined therapeutic protocol—do we really need it?

Excerpt

We would like to comment on the article by E.E. Pakos et al. entitled "Prevention of heterotopic ossification in high-risk patients with total hip arthroplasty: the experience of a combined therapeutic protocol" [5]. First, we would like to congratulate the authors for their contribution to the relevant literature. In the authors’ study, ankylosing spondylitis, hypertrophic osteoarthritis, diffuse skeletal hyperostosis, biochemical factors, male sex and a previous history of heterotopic ossication are defined as risk factors [5]. They also stated that this kind of study (combined radiotherapy and NSAID) has not been done before. They could not find a difference regarding the types of prosthesis, but found a statistically significant incidence of HO in females and in patients of osteoarthritis secondary to congenital hip dysplasia [5]. Heterotopic ossification (HO) is a common problem, especially after total hip replacement (THR) or after fracture treatment around the hip. …